Family members and friends of those missing have made appeals on social media to locate their loved ones while authorities have urged missing residents to mark themselves safe on a registry of missing people.

Among the victims were Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98, who had recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary and who died on Sunday at their home in Napa.

“They just couldn’t be without each other. The fact that they went together is probably what they would have wanted,” their son Mike Rippey told the New York Times.

Image copyrightFamily photoImage caption Among the victims were Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98

In the hills above Santa Rosa, resident Peter Lang was forced to choose between saving his home or more than 1,000 animals that were trapped at his Safari West wildlife preserve, the Press Democrat newspaper reported.

The 77-year-old owner said he did not lose a single animal, but his home was destroyed.

At least four wineries have suffered “total or very significant losses”, Napa Valley Vintners said, with nine others reporting some damage to buildings or vineyards.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared emergencies in Sonoma, Napa and five other counties.

US President Donald Trump has also approved a disaster declaration, allowing federal emergency aid to be disbursed.